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“Everybody thinks all you need to take is one pill, which is just malarkey,” said Mr. Kramer, who is H.I.V.-positive. “Nobody takes one pill. I mean, I take like 10.”

(sighs, rolls eyes).

You should put Mr. Kramer on Ignore.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

“Everybody thinks all you need to take is one pill, which is just malarkey,” said Mr. Kramer, who is H.I.V.-positive. “Nobody takes one pill. I mean, I take like 10.”

(sighs, rolls eyes).

It is so obvious that you have your head so far up your ass that you have no idea what the fuck is going on. When will you realize that everyone is not as lucking as you concerning how HIV has effected their lives. Why you constantly berate others who have a different experience or opinion is beyond me!!!

modified for spelling error

« Last Edit: January 03, 2011, 10:13:12 PM by woodshere »

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"Let us give pubicity to HV/AIDS and not hide it..." "One of the things destroying people with AIDS is the stigma we attach to it." Nelson Mandela

WTF, I could be the poster boy of hiv treatment with cd 4 1485 . Truth is I take 8 medications, 5 of which are for side effects.I have osteopenia, muscle and cognitive trauma. You might do well at the start of treatment and I wish you will continue to do well but you cannot deny or try to ridicule other people's experience. It might be useful to you one day.

Hell...in a certain way, I personally feel like I owe a bit of my life to ol' man Kramer.

We all owe a little of our lives to many great AIDS activists, both famous and not. HIV is not a sprint, but a marathon, where slow and steady wins the race. The losers are those who are grateful, for their good fortune, while ignoring those less fortunate. The cruel are those who would demean another for their lot in life. The real winners are those who can maintain a steady pace, while holding up others.

It is so obvious that you have your head so far up your ass that you have no idea what the fuck is going on. When will you realize that everyone is not as lucking as you concerning how HIV has effects their lives. Why you constantly berate others who have a different experience or opinion is beyond me!!!

lol, what? Normally, I prefer not to give you the time of day, but I think my original comment needs some clarification: There is only one thing which is liable to make educated youngsters discount the reality of HIV, and thats when we try to augment it with lies. In this case, we should not warn kids that "no one is on one pill a day", when 80% of newly treated people are in fact on one pill a day and more single treatment doses are in the pipeline.

As for "not everyone being as lucky as me"...I'm sorry, but you really don't know my position. I won't enter the HIV victimization olympics, but I don't think I've had a particularly easy go of it compared to other newbies, and I'm well aware of what the future might hold. When I describe myself as lucky, its but only because I have an appreciation for how bad things could be, and what others have gone through. This mentality is anything but oblivious to the situation others are in.

Maybe you're right though, maybe I have no idea "what the fuck is going" on because "my head is up my ass". We should keep asking septagenarians and female advertising executives why 20 something gay men keep getting infected. Clearly THEY are the ones with their fingers on the pulse of Young Gay America. Then, when infection rates fail to to slow, we can have a self-congratulatory round of "its because they don't listen to us" before starting the cycle over again. Its such a perfect combination! The Williamsburg crowd gets their bareback sex, and the aging queer intellectuals get to keep their self-congratulatory worldview! Who would've thought that old and young could exist in such harmony, contributing to one another's feedback loop? Its such beautiful symbiosis!

We should keep asking septagenarians and female advertising executives why 20 something gay men keep getting infected. Clearly THEY are the ones with their fingers on the pulse of Young Gay America. Then, when infection rates fail to to slow, we can have a self-congratulatory round of "its because they don't listen to us" before starting the cycle over again. Its such a perfect combination! The Williamsburg crowd gets their bareback sex, and the aging queer intellectuals get to keep their self-congratulatory worldview! Who would've thought that old and young could exist in such harmony, contributing to one another's feedback loop? Its such beautiful symbiosis!

My question is why couldn't that have been your original response, rather than this:

another quote also from kramer makes a lot of sense. nice thread though

“It’s about time,” Larry Kramer, the writer and a founder of Act Up, wrote in an e-mail to friends and fellow activists after seeing the spot. “This ad is honest and true and scary, all of which it should be. H.I.V. is scary, and all attempts to curtail it via lily-livered nicey-nicey ‘prevention’ tactics have failed.”

There is only one thing which is liable to make educated youngsters discount the reality of HIV, and thats when we try to augment it with lies. In this case, we should not warn kids that "no one is on one pill a day", when 80% of newly treated people are in fact on one pill a day and more single treatment doses are in the pipeline.

Its such a perfect combination! The Williamsburg crowd gets their bareback sex, and the aging queer intellectuals get to keep their self-congratulatory worldview! Who would've thought that old and young could exist in such harmony, contributing to one another's feedback loop? Its such beautiful symbiosis!

What I find interesting about your posts, is that you state your opinion as if it were fact and then act surprised when others do not agree with your "facts". However, what I find most offensive, is your constantly alluding to the fact that just because some of us are LTS, that somehow we don't understand HIV. How fucking insensitive can you get.

You think that LTS are aging queer intellectuals, and we sit around congratulating ourselves on the state of HIV? You are damn right we do, because WE ARE THE ONES WHO CREATED IT ALL and you should be forever grateful to the multitudes who died, so you could boast about your once a day dosing. What you seem unable to recognize is that LTS did what we did, because we loved the people who were dying. We did it out of a sense of love and duty, not for accolades or even recognition. It was something we wanted and need to do, for so many reasons, that you will never comprehend.

So I'm sorry if you don't like that we can't condense HIV into a sound bite for you, but at least show some respect for the people who allow you to live with HIV the way you can. You may also try the emotions of compassion and empathy at some point and then, maybe, you will understand what so many of us are trying to do.

There is only one thing which is liable to make educated youngsters discount the reality of HIV, and thats when we try to augment it with lies. In this case, we should not warn kids that "no one is on one pill a day", when 80% of newly treated people are in fact on one pill a day and more single treatment doses are in the pipeline.

Which, of course, does not include a count of any of the peripheral medications that end up creeping into your daily life routine. Far from a septagenarian and not one to classify myself as an aging queer intellectual, nevertheless I have already found myself having to take about a dozen pills a day to keep the ship afloat. Everything from blood meds to good old Immodium. It has been suspected by my docs that I may have had a mild stroke at one point. Kramer is still right.

One pill a day, right? So no problems? Like Sustiva-related depression? Or doesn't that slight bump in many person's medical road, yours included, count?

Like it or not, you are one of us. And as your journey is only starting, I can't imagine it helps significantly to cut off the very people who could help you the most, in this online community.

Which is why most of the persons you ceremoniously and vociferously placed on "ignore" have not dont the same in return. WTF, indeed. Perhaps you can consider these "teachable moments" and take a place among the grownups.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

I am not sure what kind of forum this is but the kind of response given to member "wtfimpoz" is abhorrent.

It is his experience and his opinion. Why do the moderators here allow another member to post such inflammatory statements such as:

"It is so obvious that you have your head so far up your ass that you have no idea what the fuck is going on. When will you realize that everyone is not as lucking as you concerning how HIV has effects their lives. Why you constantly berate others who have a different experience or opinion is beyond me!!!"

This seems pretty over the top and should be discouraged.

I am not interested to be drawn into this petty dispute and I won't and will have to think twice about coming here for information when this is the kind of "dialogue" that seems to be tolerated.

Think one part The Walking Dead, one part CSI and a dash of any anti-gay public service announcement (PSA) from the 1950s, and that pretty much sums up "It's Never Just HIV," the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)'s newest PSA. In an attempt to raise HIV awareness among young men who have sex with men (MSM), this eerie and explicit PSA stresses that having HIV can make one more susceptible to developing bone loss, dementia and anal cancer.

View the PSA below:

Since its Dec. 7 television debut, "It's Never Just HIV" instantly polarized the HIV and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) communities. High profile advocates -- including Larry Kramer and Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD)'s Tokes Osubu -- have hailed this as a much-needed wake-up call for gay men. Kramer wrote, in a blog for ACT UP's Web site, "It's about time. This ad is honest and true and scary, all of which it should be. HIV is scary and all attempts to curtail it via lily-livered nicey-nicey 'prevention' tactics have failed." Osubu told NBC New York, "We're getting to the point where HIV is becoming the norm. It's okay, you can just take one pill and it will disappear. But that's not the reality."

AdvertisementOthers are calling it a serious prevention failure. On Dec. 13, New York City's Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) and the media advocacy organization Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) called for the ad to be pulled from television because it is "counterproductive" and "sensationalistic." The NYC DOHMH refused GMHC and GLAAD's request and plans on playing the ad throughout the month of December and into mid-January. When asked about NYC DOHMH's decision, Monica Sweeney, M.D., the assistant commissioner for the NYC DOHMH's Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control told FishbowlNY, "Silence is no solution."

The use of fear is not new when it comes to HIV prevention, and when looking at how far (or not far) we have come in the past 30 years, I can definitely understand why the NYC DOHMH may have relied on scare tactics to grab people's attention. New HIV diagnosis rates among MSM under the age of 30 are up 50 percent in the past eight years. Yes, that's a serious problem.

I also understand that a lot has changed since the disease was once called GRID (gay-related immunodeficiency disease): AIDS doesn't deplete social circles anymore thanks to antiretrovirals; the face of the disease has become more inclusive over the years; and Big Pharma markets living with HIV as painless and as easy as popping a pill every day. And despite everything we know about this disease and how to prevent it, we are still seeing naive and nonchalant attitudes among young men when it comes to HIV. Clearly, we have a lot more work to do.

But many of the large, national LGBT organizations -- the ones that have the most visibility, influence and funding -- need to take some responsibility for why HIV has fallen off their own community's radar as well. While some of these groups will occasionally lend a hand to HIV/AIDS organizations when it's convenient, they essentially have turned their backs on the epidemic and have taken up more "relatable" platform issues, such as marriage equality, adoption and "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And while I understand that the stigma of the early days has helped shape homophobia and misconceptions about gay people, now is the time for LGBT people to let go of that hang-up and re-own this epidemic as if it's 1985. HIV is still a gay disease.

But even if the kids just don't get it and would rather remain fixated on Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, or even if Gay Inc. is too busy playing respectability politics with straight America, that doesn't justify what the NYC DOHMH has done.

This PSA is not the answer. Not even close.

First, it's misleading. The ad simplifies the science around the association between HIV and developing other ailments, such as dementia and osteoporosis, by making it seem as if these things are a definite and will happen immediately after being diagnosed. These are diseases that may not happen at all and if they do, most likely they will occur much later in life. It's not that plausible that a 28-year-old, HIV-positive man will go dancing at Splash on a Wednesday night and look down to see that his femur has snapped in half. Not to mention, this could actually deter people from wanting to get tested since the ad claims that antiretrovirals don't necessarily stop one from developing these diseases. Ignorance for many is bliss, especially if it seems as if modern medicine won't stop one's anus from being riddled with bloody sores or one's brain from rotting.Second, the men in the ad look utterly miserable and ashamed of being who they are. By demonizing gay sex, being gay and being HIV positive, this PSA only pushes HIV/AIDS back into the closet -- something the NYC DOHMH claims it doesn't want to do. How does this empower anyone to take responsibility and respect himself enough to use a condom? How does this lessen the stigma around HIV? I fear this ad will just feed into the fatalistic and self-hating mentality that some young gay men have: Why use condoms when I am destined to have HIV because I am gay?

Most importantly, this ad is problematic because it's completely insensitive to the fear that many LGBT people -- not just in New York City, but across the country -- face on a daily basis by being out with their sexual orientation or gender identity. There is the fear among some that they could lose everything because they can be legally fired in the state in which they live for being gay. Or the sheer panic that overcomes many transgender people when they walk out their front door because of the harsh reality that they may never make it back home alive. Or that menacing pit that lives in the stomachs of our LGBT youth when they pull up to school and realize that they have to face another day of torment.

We live in a society that has more contempt, than it does compassion for the LGBT community.

AdvertisementThis October, it was that exact sentiment that Joseph Jefferson, a 26-year-old, Brooklyn HIV/AIDS advocate, conveyed on his Facebook page right before he hanged himself. He wrote, "I could not bear the burden of living as a gay man of color in a world grown cold and hateful towards those of us who live and love differently than the so-called 'social mainstream.'"

This PSA, however unintentionally, plays into that legacy of hate.

And even though the NYC DOHMH uses fear to raise awareness around other health issues, such as smoking, influenza and binge drinking, it must be noted that HIV and sexual orientation carry a hell of a lot more cultural, political and emotional weight than having one too many cosmos and not getting a flu shot. And while it's not the NYC DOHMH's job to unpack and sort through all of the LGBT community's "baggage," the agency does have a responsibility to be somewhat culturally competent. Perhaps if it had been more aware, we would have seen messages about other barriers to condom use, such as homelessness, low self-esteem, sex work, economic instability, substance abuse and a lack of condom negotiation skills.

Remember, HIV is never just about complacency.

Most likely, this campaign will fail, especially since numerous studies have found that fear-based campaigns don't really alter people's behavior in the long run. But even if "It's Never Just HIV" were to be successful at doing what it set out to do -- scaring the shit out of gay men in order to get them to use condoms -- that public health win would come at a high personal price. Because to sell HIV prevention using fear (as opposed to using love and validation), does nothing but inflict more unnecessary trauma upon the same vulnerable and at-risk community that the NYC DOHMH claims it wants to protect.

And in the end, that's a lose-lose for all of us.

Kellee Terrell is the news editor for TheBody.com and TheBodyPro. The views reflected in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of TheBody.com itself.

No one method of prevention will work in "the long term." I think it is more worthwhile to stack up the "short term" efforts, including fear, than to imagine one singular grand design as the answer.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

I am not sure what kind of forum this is but the kind of response given to member "wtfimpoz" is abhorrent.

As I am sure you have reviewed the posting history of the persons you reference, you can understand the context of the discussion. I would not dream of belittling your intellect by assuming you have not done this.

I am very happy that you personally have had zero side effects from your daily regimen. I am a little disturbed that you wish to silence those who have problems with the exact same drugs.

WTF has had major issues resulting from the CNS side effects of his regimen, which makes his fierce denial regarding the scope of the pandemic and it's treatments irritating as well as puzzling.

What sort of forum is this? Well, stick around and participate. In your own words, preferably. Not to compare apples and oranges, but I have read many of thebody's forums, and this pales in comparison to the plethora of misinformation, disinformation, and downright trolling that goes virtually unchecked over there.

But to each his own.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

What I find interesting about your posts, is that you state your opinion as if it were fact and then act surprised when others do not agree with your "facts". However, what I find most offensive, is your constantly alluding to the fact that just because some of us are LTS, that somehow we don't understand HIV. How fucking insensitive can you get.

You think that LTS are aging queer intellectuals, and we sit around congratulating ourselves on the state of HIV? You are damn right we do, because WE ARE THE ONES WHO CREATED IT ALL and you should be forever grateful to the multitudes who died, so you could boast about your once a day dosing. What you seem unable to recognize is that LTS did what we did, because we loved the people who were dying. We did it out of a sense of love and duty, not for accolades or even recognition. It was something we wanted and need to do, for so many reasons, that you will never comprehend.

So I'm sorry if you don't like that we can't condense HIV into a sound bite for you, but at least show some respect for the people who allow you to live with HIV the way you can. You may also try the emotions of compassion and empathy at some point and then, maybe, you will understand what so many of us are trying to do.

Joe, I never said anything about LTS. I admire and value many LTS. Not you of course, but many. My post has nothing to do with LTS though, and its only your desire to call out to the aidsmeds cartel by misquoting me which has even brought up the group. What I said was that we shouldn't petition Larry Kramer ("a septagenarian") to discuss what young gay men need to hear. This isn't rocket science. We wouldn't dream of asking New Yorkers why Californians build their homes in areas prone to wildfires. It goes without saying that 50 year olds have little to contribute regarding the issue of why 22 year olds can't graduate college in four years. For some reason, in the topsy-turvy world of HIV prevention, we seem to solicit the opinions of everyone but the people we're supposedly trying to educate.

Joe, 99% of what you write is worthless, it really is. Its melodramatic, self-centered and just plain malicious. You manipulate emotions, but you never inspire or teach. Everything is always about you, all the time. I've had you on block for so long that I'd almost forgotten you were alive. I would've ignored your prattle here but experience has taught me that you can't let sleeping dogs lie. You absolutely had to jump a discussion I was having and attack me for things I never said. I didn't want to see you hijack yet another thread and turn it into a discussion of how I've victimized you with things I never said. What is it that causes you to do this? "Compassion"? "Empathy"? "What you're trying to do"? "Boasting about once a day dosing"? WTF are you even talking about? Joe, my points were that lying to uninfected 20 somethings makes them doubt the truths we tell them. My second point was that we shouldn't be asking 70 year olds about what 20 year olds think. These are reasonable concerns to anyone. What possible value is there in anything that you've written, but your attempt to tear me down? Get a life dude.

Joe, I never said anything about LTS. I admire and value many LTS. Not you of course, but many. My post has nothing to do with LTS though, and its only your desire to call out to the aidsmeds cartel by misquoting me which has even brought up the group. What I said was that we shouldn't petition Larry Kramer ("a septagenarian") to discuss what young gay men need to hear. This isn't rocket science. We wouldn't dream of asking New Yorkers why Californians build their homes in areas prone to wildfires. It goes without saying that 50 year olds have little to contribute regarding the issue of why 22 year olds can't graduate college in four years. For some reason, in the topsy-turvy world of HIV prevention, we seem to solicit the opinions of everyone but the people we're supposedly trying to educate.

Joe, 99% of what you write is worthless, it really is. Its melodramatic, self-centered and just plain malicious. You manipulate emotions, but you never inspire or teach. Everything is always about you, all the time. I've had you on block for so long that I'd almost forgotten you were alive. I would've ignored your prattle here but experience has taught me that you can't let sleeping dogs lie. You absolutely had to jump a discussion I was having and attack me for things I never said. I didn't want to see you hijack yet another thread and turn it into a discussion of how I've victimized you with things I never said. What is it that causes you to do this? "Compassion"? "Empathy"? "What you're trying to do"? "Boasting about once a day dosing"? WTF are you even talking about? Joe, my points were that lying to uninfected 20 somethings makes them doubt the truths we tell them. My second point was that we shouldn't be asking 70 year olds about what 20 year olds think. These are reasonable concerns to anyone. What possible value is there in anything that you've written, but your attempt to tear me down? Get a life dude.

Quoted to save.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

My apologies Mr. Evans. I thought the article I posted, "Fear and HIV Prevention Shouldn't Mix" was well written and eloquent enough to stand on it's own. Note taken.

I normally would never get involved with this kind of hyperbole and tit for tat crap but it's the rebel in me that has to come out for this young member wtfimpoz. I think you folks should lighten up on him and act like adults. I will add this last quote in this thread from a singer/songwriter from my day:

"Come mothers and fathersThroughout the landAnd don't criticizeWhat you can't understandYour sons and your daughtersAre beyond your commandYour old road isRapidly agin'.Please get out of the new oneIf you can't lend your handFor the times they are a-changin'."

Joe, I never said anything about LTS. I admire and value many LTS. Not you of course, but many. My post has nothing to do with LTS though, and its only your desire to call out to the aidsmeds cartel by misquoting me which has even brought up the group.

Joe, 99% of what you write is worthless, it really is. Its melodramatic, self-centered and just plain malicious. You manipulate emotions, but you never inspire or teach. Everything is always about you, all the time. I've had you on block for so long that I'd almost forgotten you were alive. I would've ignored your prattle here but experience has taught me that you can't let sleeping dogs lie.

Get a life dude.

You are so amazingly disrespectful. And you can cry "AIDS Meds Mafia", "Cartel", "Cabal", or "Junta" all you want; we will come to each other's defense when someone who barely knows what he's saying decides to attack a member of a community that we care about. When you first came on board we supported you. I recall myself, Ann, and Phil --to name a few-- being there for you when you were falling apart, but you have chosen to act like a brat and believe that "ignoring" people is the way to go.

Stop playing victim and act with a little class and maturity. And please let this be your last attack on Joe; you will not get any affection from anyone around here if you keep at it.

To this Wonderful person who asked why WTF had been given such a harsh response by other members, I believe that this should give you enough of an example of what this young man is about. I seriously wonder why he even bothers to come round here anyway.

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"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."

You need to pull up a comfortable desk and get schooled, WTF. You are addressing a very well regarded member of these forums and he deserves more respect.

I've already read enough of your smarmy posts to conclude that I'd rather have one of him than 100 of the likes of you.

I find it extrememly telling that you appear to have dismissed some of the very voices who could benefit you the most.

That's the thing, isn't it? Yes when serious side effects emerge, those very /ignored/ voices are often the first ones to supply information and even support.

It's a good symptom of the issues with HIV prevention. People silence the voices that they really need to hear, because it isn't what they want to believe.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Joe, I never said anything about LTS. I admire and value many LTS. Not you of course, but many. My post has nothing to do with LTS though, and its only your desire to call out to the aidsmeds cartel by misquoting me which has even brought up the group. What I said was that we shouldn't petition Larry Kramer ("a septagenarian") to discuss what young gay men need to hear. This isn't rocket science. We wouldn't dream of asking New Yorkers why Californians build their homes in areas prone to wildfires. It goes without saying that 50 year olds have little to contribute regarding the issue of why 22 year olds can't graduate college in four years. For some reason, in the topsy-turvy world of HIV prevention, we seem to solicit the opinions of everyone but the people we're supposedly trying to educate.

Joe, 99% of what you write is worthless, it really is. Its melodramatic, self-centered and just plain malicious. You manipulate emotions, but you never inspire or teach. Everything is always about you, all the time. I've had you on block for so long that I'd almost forgotten you were alive. I would've ignored your prattle here but experience has taught me that you can't let sleeping dogs lie. You absolutely had to jump a discussion I was having and attack me for things I never said. I didn't want to see you hijack yet another thread and turn it into a discussion of how I've victimized you with things I never said. What is it that causes you to do this? "Compassion"? "Empathy"? "What you're trying to do"? "Boasting about once a day dosing"? WTF are you even talking about? Joe, my points were that lying to uninfected 20 somethings makes them doubt the truths we tell them. My second point was that we shouldn't be asking 70 year olds about what 20 year olds think. These are reasonable concerns to anyone. What possible value is there in anything that you've written, but your attempt to tear me down? Get a life dude.

I don't care if you like me, because I know what I do, makes a difference to an awful lot of people. My point to you remains that if you think you can develop prevention messages that will work, then go for it. Just what exactly do you think the HIV community has been trying to do with 30 years of prevention messages. We have tried almost every combination of emotions, but humans are just too fluid to all be reached by the same messages. So rather than my boring you with my worthless thoughts, why don't you outline for us, the prevention messages you would develop for 300 million Americans? Either put up or STFU.

Joe, I never said anything about LTS. I admire and value many LTS. Not you of course, but many. My post has nothing to do with LTS though, and its only your desire to call out to the aidsmeds cartel by misquoting me which has even brought up the group. What I said was that we shouldn't petition Larry Kramer ("a septagenarian") to discuss what young gay men need to hear. This isn't rocket science. We wouldn't dream of asking New Yorkers why Californians build their homes in areas prone to wildfires. It goes without saying that 50 year olds have little to contribute regarding the issue of why 22 year olds can't graduate college in four years. For some reason, in the topsy-turvy world of HIV prevention, we seem to solicit the opinions of everyone but the people we're supposedly trying to educate.

Joe, 99% of what you write is worthless, it really is. Its melodramatic, self-centered and just plain malicious. You manipulate emotions, but you never inspire or teach. Everything is always about you, all the time. I've had you on block for so long that I'd almost forgotten you were alive. I would've ignored your prattle here but experience has taught me that you can't let sleeping dogs lie. You absolutely had to jump a discussion I was having and attack me for things I never said. I didn't want to see you hijack yet another thread and turn it into a discussion of how I've victimized you with things I never said. What is it that causes you to do this? "Compassion"? "Empathy"? "What you're trying to do"? "Boasting about once a day dosing"? WTF are you even talking about? Joe, my points were that lying to uninfected 20 somethings makes them doubt the truths we tell them. My second point was that we shouldn't be asking 70 year olds about what 20 year olds think. These are reasonable concerns to anyone. What possible value is there in anything that you've written, but your attempt to tear me down? Get a life dude.

And when you made your "rolls eyes" comment above you didn't think you would garner the response you pretend not to want? I don't buy it... We all know what your intentions were here, perhaps it is you who needs to get a life. And do us all a favor, get off Joe's back while doing so.

I doubt the ad is going to change sexual behavior. If someone isn't afraid of AIDS are they really going to be afraid of being at a "higher risk" for osteoporosis or anal cancer?

The ad is almost comical to me: "Oh, I don't want to get AIDS because that might lead to brittle bones!"

So what works? We have, as a community, done such a great job of promoting HIV as No Big Deal that I am clueless as to what, exactly, would be effective at preventing it.

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

does anyone have any numbers on what market share Atripla holds? I imagine that that once-a-day pill actually works for a number of people according to the data.

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“Everybody thinks all you need to take is one pill, which is just malarkey,” said Mr. Kramer, who is H.I.V.-positive. “Nobody takes one pill. I mean, I take like 10.”

Mr. Kramer actually did speak with some hyperbole stating that "nobody" takes just 1 pill as that is patently not true. He does seem to ignore the wide range of experiences that people with HIV have and seems to only speak from his own experience. While some of us take 10 pills a day, others (like me) only take 3 (well 4 if you count the acyclovir), and still others take just 1.

Thankfully in the last 20 yrs great strides have been made and people are able to physically handle HIV much better than in the past because of the improved medications. I know that I have been quite surprised to meet as many people I have at my ASO who take Atripla, still work, and have very few, if any, side effects. (I don't denigrate their experience just because I wasn't as "lucky". then again thanks to the AZT, since I'm still alive, I'm luckier than my dead friends and partners so I guess it's all relative.) Such strides have been made that even the gov't is considering changes to disability requirements as someone is more likely today to be diagnosed with AIDS, receive proper treatment, and go back to their "regular" way of life instead being counseled on their impending death as it was in the past.

I doubt the ad is going to change sexual behavior. If someone isn't afraid of AIDS are they really going to be afraid of being at a "higher risk" for osteoporosis or anal cancer?

oh but I do think it works - some. Just like the more "gentle" advertisements work too. Someone talked earlier about what the message should be. Well, it should be all of the above! Sometimes honey works, and sometimes vinegar works, especially when you're reaching out to the masses and not one-on-one. And sadly, a lot of the time neither works; but occassionaly both work.

So what works? We have, as a community, done such a great job of promoting HIV as No Big Deal that I am clueless as to what, exactly, would be effective at preventing it.

I don't have the answers but it seems to me if you want to change the sexual behavior of young people you need to make the consequences more about something they care about, like sex. I know HIV+ people would flip out but how about an ad where you tell young gays that the meds cause chronic diarrhea and reminded them that no one wants to fuck the guy who is going to cover them in liquid shit. "Condoms not only prevent HIV they keep you from getting covered in shit."

I don't have the answers but it seems to me if you want to change the sexual behavior of young people you need to make the consequences more about something they care about, like sex. I know HIV+ people would flip out but how about an ad where you tell young gays that the meds cause chronic diarrhea and reminded them that no one wants to fuck the guy who is going to cover them in liquid shit. "Condoms not only prevent HIV they keep you from getting covered in shit."

Yes, I'm going over the top but you get the idea.

Actually that is a great idea. It's still fear-based, but it's a fear that manages to hit at an early and identifiable (not to mention common) impact of HIV, treated or untreated.

If you can get a person, young OR old, startled out of his/her reverie for an instant, then you have sown the seed. Fear does this. Disturbing images do this, humor does this.

So many ASO's think putting a dry facts sheet of info at the urinal in a gay bar is enough. My point is that it's not. Also, a waste of valuable real estate.

A close up of a hard penis with a condom on it. A masked superhero handing out condoms. graphic photos of shit-stained sheet, lipo, whatever. And KEEP switching it up.

I am always face-palming when I hear people say that such-and-such isn't "the way" to go about a problem, then offer nothing insofar as a solution in return. And all the time overlooking the obvious; that there is NO one way to prevent HIV. Using ALL the weapons in our collective media disposal, and knowing when to swap them out, is the key.

That takes a LOT of work, and probably more than a lot of money. Turns a comfy desk job into a grueling labor of love, with no nights or weekends off. Means getting and staying involved.

Sadly, HIV prevention is not a job for the lazy, the sick, or the tired. And sadly, the latter two have been holding the fort for way too long. And the first is happy to rest on those unearned laurels.

*edited to add:

Going "over the top" is the only logical first step in brainstorming. I am glad you went there

Also, it is both sad and telling that most of us actually having this conversation are ignored by the member who seems in most need of the information.

« Last Edit: January 04, 2011, 01:16:24 AM by jkinatl2 »

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

I don't care if you like me, because I know what I do, makes a difference to an awful lot of people. My point to you remains that if you think you can develop prevention messages that will work, then go for it. Just what exactly do you think the HIV community has been trying to do with 30 years of prevention messages. We have tried almost every combination of emotions, but humans are just too fluid to all be reached by the same messages. So rather than my boring you with my worthless thoughts, why don't you outline for us, the prevention messages you would develop for 300 million Americans? Either put up or STFU.

First, I'd establish whether the ad's target audience really thinks HIV is an easy to manage disease. I suspect most kids these days don't, although let me volunteer that at 29 I'm pretty far removed from their mindset. Operating off the radical belief that they haven't missed 30 years of fear-based sex ed, horror stories about "super aids", that they're not blind to the physical side effects of HIV medications, I'd begin asking questions. "Why do you think you can trust the self-proclaimed serostatus of a stranger you meet on a website called barebackrealtime?" "What was it that lead you to believe you'd use a condom correctly, every time, when drunk?" If you didn't feel safe, why didn't you navigate your behavior towards safer activities?" "Did you wonder how you were going to pay for it?" What do you mean you haven't had sex?*" "Why did you think that a man you'd been with for three weeks was trustworthy enough to ditch condoms with?" "What do you mean you didn't know you could get HIV from a single unprotected encounter?"

I'd educate, as necessary, from there. The variety of answers might not fit comfortably into a 2 minute soundbite on television, but I think it'd be more effective than restating the obvious and expecting a different result.

Matty, you say that the campaign has done its research because its well funded. I personally feel that one doesn't necessarily follow the other. Kids these days know HIV is bad, they grew up with it in the background.

"Of 14,000 people (whose mean age was about 22 years) included in a study published this morning in the journal Pediatrics, fully 10 percent of those who tested positive for one of three common STDs (chlamydia, gonorrhea trichomoniasis) reported they hadn't had sex during the previous 12 months. And 60 percent of that 10 percent said they'd never had sex at all."

There's a miscommunication somewhere. I hold that young adults already know HIV is bad, that we need to understand why they are making choices that lead to it anyways. The fact that large swathes of youth seem to underestimate the fact that they are sexually active at all is an excellent place to start.

It just shows to me that people, younger or older, are perfectly capable of denying reality when it comes to STDs, a highly stigmatized group of diseases, or at least when being confronted with a diagnosis. It's after-the-fact, i.e., they have already been infected. So I still can't see how you can link it to your assertion that they (young adults) know HIV is bad, or even as a starting point of discussions.

It just shows to me that people, younger or older, are perfectly capable of denying reality when it comes to STDs, a highly stigmatized group of diseases, or at least when being confronted with a diagnosis. It's after-the-fact, i.e., they have already been infected. So I still can't see how you can link it to your assertion that they (young adults) know HIV is bad, or even as a starting point of discussions.

Careful. If YOU get Ignored, you will be having this conversation more or less alone

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"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

So I still can't see how you can link it to your assertion that they (young adults) know HIV is bad, or even as a starting point of discussions.

sure they do. On world aids day, an audience of 350 college students and 7 videos they had prepared for our video contest all thought that an HIV diagnosis was still a death sentence (lord, those vids didn't at all portray HIV awareness in the way that we had wanted LOL). So they know that it's bad.

Just like drugs, driving too fast, alcohol, STDs etc etc. They know all those things are "bad", but do they care? probably not and probably never will. Until we change the entire society's view of condomless sex (and good luck with that. the anti teen-pregnancy crowd has been trying to do that a lot longer that HIV activists), we're never going to solve the HIV infection problem either. (well, a vaccine sure would help; though it wouldn't stop the condomless sex.) Young adults understand that unsafe sex can result in HIV, pregnancy, and stds ... however, the odds of that are slim and that's what they're banking on. Just think how high the odds are of a female getting pregnant - and it doesn't stop the sex. The chance of getting HIV is even less of a gamble.

I think the only "solution" are all solutions. "Nice" ads, in-your-face ads, speakers, education programs, etc, etc. Every one of those methods will reach a few and each "few" adds up. and yes, sadly, until there's a vaccine or cure or a mass cultural change, nothing we can say or show will totally reach everyone. but that's nothing new either. every advertising agency in the world understands that. why do you think ads are rotated around all the time? Why are they "assuring" at times, and "radical" at others? Because all those ways bring in a few customers at a time - and that's all they can really hope for.

that's why it seems silly for those agencies and people to have complained about this ad campaign. it's just as legit and as viable as any other PSA. (just like our 10 pill a day, 3 pill a day or 1 pill day experiences are each as viable as the next.) Instead of fussing, those agencies should be spending time and money to produce the kind of PSA that they want. It'll reach just as many as this other PSA and think of how many HIV infections both types of ads will have prevented.